Your Opinion: Added abortion limits unneeded

Your Opinion: Added abortion limits unneeded

March 11th, 2014by Ellie Busch, Jefferson City
in News

Dear Editor:

The Missouri House has recently passed HB1307 and HB1313 that would take the already 24-hour mandatory waiting period for a woman seeking an abortion and triple it to a 72-hour waiting period. Despite the Supreme Court ruling that the 24-hour waiting period is a more than adequate time restraint for a woman to wait while seeking an abortion, Missouri politicians and proponents of this bill continue to try and put Missouri women's health at risk by proposing bills that put unnecessary waiting periods on a safe and legal medical procedure that is safest the earlier it is done.

Abortion is a deeply personal and complex medical decision, but when bills like HB1307 and HB1313 are passed it infringes on the decision-making process that should be left between a woman, her family, faith, and doctor or medical provider. No woman decides to have an abortion like one would decide to buy shoes or a house, like many politicians have alluded to in legislative hearings.

Missouri women seeking an abortion must go through biased counseling to try and change their mind on having the procedure, often times taking long trips with extended time away from work and family, and waiting the current 24-hour mandatory waiting period before she can access an abortion.

To assume Missouri women seeking an abortion have not already had more than enough time to come to their own decision on the best option for them, whatever it may be, is naive and shows a lack of trust in women. If it were truly the well-being and health of Missourians these politicians were concerned about, they would be more concerned about expanding Medicaid in Missouri than forcing unnecessary restrictions on women.

I urge you to call your Missouri state senator and put a stop to these bills before they endanger the lives and well being of Missouri women.